


This Christmas

by DearLouise3



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-12
Updated: 2014-12-12
Packaged: 2018-03-01 04:04:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2758961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DearLouise3/pseuds/DearLouise3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity and Oliver's first Christmas together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Christmas

This Christmas

Flitting and flouncing around her living room was Felicity Smoak, tinsel encircling her neck glistening in the dim candle-lit glow. Her content, relaxed grin stayed put on her lips; something that rarely occurred. It's the night before Christmas and she had the holiday to take her time off from the vigilante occupation, the main reason why dark bags pulled at the lower regions of her eyes. Her phone was silent. The tv was buzzing in the background. And all she could smell was the soft cinnamon lingering in the air from the weary luminescence of her candles and the spicy scent of her gingerbread men.  
She pulled the tray of golden people out of her oven and carefully slid it onto her cooling rack. 'And not a burnt bruise anywhere,' she squeaked to herself in delight. Her hands reached for the white icing, red and green M&Ms, scarlet crystals and silver sugar balls, itching to begin adding sweet smiles and scarves to the plain cookies.

But loneliness tugged at the back of her mind, causing her to pause abruptly for a minute and drift off elsewhere. Her eyes were drawn to the five wrapped parcels underneath her Christmas tree that won't be touched until after the break. An impressive box for Diggle, Lyla and Sara, a petite box for Roy, a large gift for Thea, a heart-shaped present for Laurel and the last one . . .  
Felicity sighed. But this was good, this was vital for her. Besides, it's not like anyone would particularly want to spend Christmas Eve with Felicity in her toasty, cozy apartment in a quiet part of town. She grabbed the icing bag and pressed gently.

After a few minutes intricately outlining each cookie, the doorbell announced a surprise.  
Perhaps she was wrong, perhaps someone did want to spend the evening with her.  
'A parcel for Miss Felicity Smoak?' A young man's muffled voice rang through.  
Felicity's shoulders sagged and she placed the icing bag down to hurriedly open the door.  
'Hi, yes, I'm Felicity.'  
'This is for you, ma'am. Could you sign this, please?' The boy handed her a clipboard just as she took the parcel into her hands. The wrapping paper was brown and bland, but the silver ribbon neatly tied around it suggested otherwise. With an elegant swish of her wrist, she signed the board and looked up. The boy was probably eighteen, doing the job for any little change. He had an empty, rehearsed grin on his face, his eyes lost to another dimension.  
'Are you working for the entire night?' she inquired, tucking the parcel awkwardly under her arm and turning her attention to him.  
'No, ma'am,' the boy replied, eyes widened by the unusual spark of interest. 'I have one more delivery.'  
'You're practically Santa, you know,' Felicity giggled and cracked a smile. 'Who's your last delivery to?'  
'A resident down your street,' he replied quietly. They were silent for a moment, staring sheepishly at each other. 'Merry Christmas, Miss Smoak.'  
'Merry Christmas,' she whispered as the boy made his way across her street. The spark of company died down gradually and there she was, back in her little world. 

 

***

 

It was nearing midnight and all of her food were primly kept on the coffee table of her living room. The Christmas tree remained half dressed and her presents untouched, candles dying out along with her jovial spirit. She's accepted that loneliness wasn't working for her, it was indeed a heavy burden on her frail shoulders.  
'This is awful,' she murmured as she lay sipping her lukewarm hot chocolate on her sofa, blankly watching the muted television.  
Suddenly, all her stresses, her deepest fears, doubts, expectations and future ambition crashed and piled on top of her. Her last candle was burning out and Felicity sat shaking, tears slipping, with a thin throw around her shoulders.  
She picked up her phone and dialled his number. Thankfully, he picked up on the first ring.  
'Felicity?'  
'Oliver!'  
'Felicity, are you okay? Felicty?' His panic rose for she went silent, her soft sobs and deep rips of breath filling in the blank space for her.  
'Oliver . . . are you busy?'  
'Not in the mean time, no. Thea just fell asleep on the couch. Hey, hey, what's going on?'  
'I don't want to sound needy, but could you . . . could you come over?'  
'I'll be there in five,' he ended with a firm strain on his voice.

Oliver arrived three minutes late, but Felicity didn't care. She forcefully swung the door open and flung herself into his chest. Her head hurt a little, forgetting he was indeed a six-foot tall high muscle-to-fat ratio entity. But his wooly cardigan and wide chest radiated heart-felt, tender warmth. He brought her to the sofa, gently kicking the door closed without letting go of her and waited until her tears drenched his front.  
'Hey, what happened? Why is it so dark in here?'  
'I-I just didn't want to be alone this Christmas.'  
'You never had to be,' he whispered into her knotted hair. 'I'm glad you called, but you could have joined Thea and I.'  
'No, no, Christmas is about family. And my mom's flight got cancelled.'  
Oliver went quiet for a moment, while Felicity sat with the side of her face pressed closely against his chest, her head tucked snugly under his chin.  
'You know, family doesn't necessarily mean blood relatives.' It was Felicity's turn to fall silent. 'Good thing I brought your present.'  
She peeled herself off of him and blinked several times as the last of the waterworks spurted. A few sniffs came and went.  
'Will you spend the last hour of Christmas Eve with me?' she whimpered and smiled weakly.  
'Did you have to ask?' he grinned back and rose up with a determined twinkle in his eyes. 'First, we need candles. I see you ran out, but don't worry.' Felicity didn't notice the duffel bag he had brought with him sitting by her shoe rack. Oliver brought it back to where they were sat on the couch and dramatically unzipped it. It almost appeared to burst with all sorts of parcels wrapped in brown paper and silver ribbon.  
'Did you get my delivery?'  
She nodded and pointed the brown packaging by her dull gingerbread men, but Oliver's eyes were drawn to the cookies.  
'You didn't even finish decorating them,' he cried with playful disbelief. 'But first, here's your first two presents.'  
Felicity hesitantly took the two long, rectangular boxes from him. She shook them lightly and heard a muffled rattle. A moment later and brown paper was scattered around her.  
It was a pack of 10 small candles each, the size of her fist. 'Cinnamon vanilla candles. How did you know?'  
'It's part of my job to be very perceptive. Plus, your hair smells of it most of the time.'  
She pounced up and pecked his cheek before replacing all her burnt out candles. Within no time, the muted glow of her living room was revived and it thrived spectacularly in the new spirit.  
'Let's give your gingerbread men some smiles,' he added, already migrating the tray of cookies into her kitchen. Felicity followed behind with a small grin and the Christmas joy resurfaced once again.  
They spent a few minutes adding icing and red crystals of sugar onto the golden cutouts, laughing at the weird expressions they gave them and the colourful buttons painted on their bellies. When they were all decorated, Felicity daintily peeled one off the tray before giving its arm a nibble. 'Mm, yum.'  
Oliver gave her an accomplished beam before asking for a nibble himself. She fed him the cookie but an avalanche of crumbs fell dow his chin, causing the two of them to erupt with laughter. At her natural instinct, she swiped a tissue and wiped the crumbs off his chin with a ridiculous smile. They agreed to save some for the rest of Team Arrow.

The next stage of the night, now only minutes away from the midnight stroke, was finishing off the tree. Glitter from the baubles were sprinkled everywhere and some sprinkled onto his hair, while Felicity had speckles of fairy dust dotted around her face, and a few on her lips. They moved like clock-work, harmoniously adding tinsel, baubles, detailed ornaments around the tree.  
'And . . . my stool's too small for me to put the star!' Felicity groaned as she reached on her tip-toes, stretching from the stool to add the final ornament.  
'Here, climb on my shoulder,' Oliver suggested and got down on his knees.  
'No, Oliver--'  
'Come on,' he insisted, holding his hand out for her to take. She bit her lip, hesitant but eager.  
She wrapped her left leg around one side of his neck and sat on his broad shoulders while she slung her right on the other side.  
But when Oliver stood up, her head was almost brushing the ceiling. Her lips were pursed in concentration as she slotted in the final piece, though this was a strenuous task in itself. Oliver's warm hands were firmly holding her thighs down and his large arms were wrapped around her shins.  
They stood back to marvel at their creation with a deep sigh, Felicity still mounted on Oliver's upper body. Their hands had found each other and they fell silent, not only marvelling at the tree but at the touch of each other. All boundaries were worn away and now they were here, immersed in light-hearted companionship.

'I should give you your next present,' Oliver suggested after the moment ended. 'It's something Thea suggested.'  
Carefully not to tip Felicity over, he sat down with his back pressed against the spine of the sofa. She dismounted herself, but something went wrong out of her clumsiness and she fell with a gentle 'oof' on his lap.  
'Hello,' he greeted in surprise, their faces inches apart.  
'Hi,' she murmured and giggled.  
But she moved out the way for Oliver to take out her next present from his duffle bag. This time, the parcel was roundly shaped and it was clearly rather heavy. The feel of cool glass sparked excitement in her when she placed it on her lap.  
'A terrarium?!' she squealed and clapped like a child. 'This is amazing! It's something I've always wanted to buy but I never had the time,' she blurted and placed it in the centre of the coffee table. Her eyes were fixed at the pale green succulents, spiky plants, the lush moss, white gravel and pebbles positioned perfectly within the clear vase. 'This is so beautiful.'  
'You gave the foundry a fern, it was only fair you got a 'thank you'.'  
They sat back on the sofa, their feet next to each other and Felicity's head on Oliver's shoulder. A moment of sheer bliss passed by, the happiness sparkling in the air like the bottom of a champagne glass. Oliver placed an arm around her shoulder's before checking his wristwatch.  
'Merry Christmas,' he whispered before planting a kiss on her temple.  
'Merry Christmas,' she replied, returning a peck on his jaw. Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention, causing her to gasp loudly. 'It's snowing.' Their eyes were drawn to the window and surely enough, flecks of the clouds above swirled in the midnight air. Snowflakes were pulled up, down and around, floating and coating the ground with a fine layer of white powder. Felicity stood up and moved to press her face against the icy window. But Oliver was already standing in her doorway, a hand stuck out to catch a handful of snow. She followed up behind him and entwined their hands once more.  
'You've turned my Christmas around. And I haven't even finished unwrapping all of the presents.'  
Oliver looked down at his feet with a light laugh. He was preparing himself for something, something that made him jittery and nervous because he was doing that habit he has of rubbing his fingers against his thumb when standing still.  
'Look up, Felicity,' he murmurs and simultaneously, they did so. Mistletoe hung from the doorframe right in between the two of them, its waxy leaves gleaming under the streetlights with sheer anticipation.  
But there were no nerves in Felicity's disposition. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck before kissing him with all her resurfacing burning desire. Oliver, however, melted under the touch of her smooth lips. The first time they kissed, it was impromptu, rushed, and somewhat inconsequential. But this time, he could do it again but better to show Felicity that no matter how hard his mind alarms him from getting too close to her, he cannot stay away.  
'I love you.'

***


End file.
